When Layl found success selling her art at arts festivals even when she was still in art school she began to realize conventional illustration was not her real love. She found she could actually make a living making what she really loved to make. Layl made Story Boxes, Story Quilts, Story Scraps, and Story Vests made of fabric, found objects, and polymer clay. Over the years polymer clay has become her dominant medium. In the past few years she has worked primarily in clay creating series of work that tell stories about her life as a mother. She still uses mixed media objects as accents and enjoys working with kids using her collections of found materials. Even though she is not creating the work herself it’s exciting to see a pile of stuff transform into creatures, settings and to see the stories come to life.
Layl now lives and creates in Minneapolis with her two daughters and husband. In 1999 she and her husband, Josh Blanc, opened their studio and showroom, Clay Squared to Infinity, in North East Minneapolis. Here she sells her work and Josh makes and sells tiles. She still does many festivals throughout the year and teaches artist-in-residencies and after school programs.
